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Morning my little cupcakes! its been a proper terrifying week at WDS HQ! Mr Darcey Sleeps has had a mystery virus that landed him in Accident and Emergency, one bag of IV fluids and antibiotics and he is beginning to look a bit better. So, lets get on with these trends:

Ruffles and volume in general is a key trend and brands are sticking ruffles on anything that doesn’t move! for me, who is more than a little on the large and short side, this is not an easy trend but it is still doable….

which is also from Simply Be, the ruffles are cleverly placed on this drawing the eye down rather than across.

Orange eyeshadow whoa nelly! do they really expect us to do this? But fear not loves its actually surprisingly wearable……..

This is courtesy of the gorgeous daughter (as I still have a boil on my eye) this shadow is from a palette called 35s by Morphe, its strength is the subtle shimmer and the fact that it is more tangerine than orange. The daughter used a yellow wash up to the eyebrow, orange on lid and under the eye. She took the reddish orange from the palette, and took it under the eye and the outer part of the lid in a v shape. Black eyeliner and mascara finish the look , if you are convinced get yours at http://www.beautybay.co.uk.

Finally, and this is a real disaster for me…

Yellow!!!! yellow is a no no if you are my colouring, I am blonde and pale skinned and can tend towards looking naked if I wear yellow! but wait there is always handbags …..

Look at this little poppet from Dune! More buttercup than daffodil, with a pretty scallop detail it goes by the delightful name of Dinidipley and is available from http://www.dune.co.uk and other retailers.

Before we part company, can I just say how profoundly glad I am that I live in the UK with an NHS which is struggling but still able to deliver world class care. I also want to make the point that in our hospital that care is being delivered by people from every corner of this world. I have to vote in two elections over the coming months and I will be voting for the party that will support those people in saying in the UK.

Bonjour tout le monde! Now you all know that I am a bag fanatic, I have so many because people are always making lovely new ones! I am equally addicted to shopping bags, I have this Ted Baker one…….

I have this tribute bag from the Alexander Mcqueen one from the V & A exhibition ……

When I saw these bags from italian brand Kartell, I nearly fainted …….

How gorgeous is that? but the price tag is also a bit swoon making….£254!

So with my thinking cap on I popped to the retro brand Sunjellies and bought this gorgeous number……..

Just £17! I then sat down with my trusty Sizzix machine and cut some flower shapes……

You can also cut these shapes or similar by hand, just google “felt flower pattern”. I wasn’t keen on the black ones so I ended up with these………

Before I got any further I received my inspiration box from Katie at Felted Fancies supplies, behold its loveliness……..

Inside there was also some felt flowers and of course much nicer than mine so I glued my pink ones and Katie’s flowers straight onto the bag using my hot glue gun….

I also made some Chrysanthemum ones by folding a strip of felt in half, then cutting vertically every half centimetre almost to the bottom, roll up this strip and you have a flower! after much gluing this is the result……..

Cute enough but it think it needs something else? my super talented daughter suggested more flowers gradually getting less as we move up the bag. I will be thinking about this alongside some new product development next week and i’ll hopefully post the updated picture next week.

Morning loves! January is a hideous month, too dark, too cold and fundamentally it’s not Christmas! So how do we get through it? Why don’t you join me for a look at some gorgeousness, some of which is actually useful! I promise it might make life more bearable 🙂

Make up – for some of us girls ( me included) sticking some nice make up on is really beneficial, making us feel more confident, this lovely Younique palette is rapidly becoming my go to …….

Full of lovely pinks and purples, with matte, shimmer and downright glittery shaded, it really does shine some light on the darkest day and the colours are a lot more subtle on the eye……

Art supplies – I know, not all of you are artists but I know a lot of people are colouring and card making and doing lots of lovely crafty stuff, take a look at these beauties……..

These clever little minxes do all the shading for you, the pen gets put in a mixing chamber and then you just colour and bingo! All shading done by the pen!

Sales! – my favourite bag brand Nica is on sale all over the place at the moment, although Nica’s sale is over this beauty is in the special offer section on their website…..

And it’s £20! No shipping and in a variety of colours! Sorry I’ve got to lay down for a minute…..

I’m back with our final goody kale chips! Buy a bag of pre chopped kale, discard the tough stalk bits, put on a bowl and spray with fry light, spread evenly on a baking tray…….﻿

Put on the oven at a medium high heat and WATCH THEM, these little devils will burn if you leave them to their own devices! Take them out when the edges are browning and place in a bowl to cool and crisp up……..

And eat!

by the way the crystals that appear in the pictures are chosen for inspiration, creativity and peace,my New Year gift to you!

Morning! Grab a piece of cake and a glass of sparkle because we are celebrating!

This little blog is 2 years old! So in the words of Craig David lets “re re wind” and have a look at how far that unicorn has flown!

The 10th of December 2014 was the first entry on this blog and the first anniversary of me suffering a panic attack and developing anxiety and panic disorder. This major upset had left me feeling like this…….

But then I went to therapy and a wonderful lady restored me basically to factory settings, so what to do with myself now? Too sick to return to work for HM Government it was up to me to find an occupation that fitted around my disabilities. That’s how While Darcey Sleeps was born, an umbrella name for this blog and my painting/craft business. It was so called because I could only work while this madam was asleep!

After a suggestion from family I started painting and did a few test run dog portraits for friends of my daughters…….

This has become the backbone of the business, and for me a dream come true, to paint and get paid for it feels incredible.

For me the equal pleasure is to write this blog every week and not confine our discussion to crafts, we have talked about everything, from colour…….

To make up…….

Fashion (especially hand bags!)………

To gardening…….

We have had a good time…………

We have laughed…….

And we have cried……

Through it all, this has been the best place to hang out, I hope you have found it useful or thought provoking or just enjoyed the pictures.

My unicorn will be stretching her wings this year, making more, talking more and generally taking it to the next level, know this for sure, this sparkly door will be open to anyone, 2017 is going to need all the love we can give it and all the support we can give each other.

So here’s to us, and another year of spangly, glittery, emotional, funny experiences!

Good Morning my darlings! Do you remember the backpack that I have been inching towards completion? It was very influenced by the lovely Dolce and Gabbana Miss Sicily bag……

Well it seems like I’m not the only one that thought it was lovely, here is a Fendi bag and one from Simply Be………

It took me a long time to realise that designers don’t walk around with their brains stuffed with completely original ideas, that all design is influenced by what has come before, so without further ado, here is the finished backpack…….

Well…not exactly,because I was so pleased with how it was shaping up I searched for actual proper straps, d rings and a way to attach the d rings….

Can you spot the missing component? yup no d rings they are winging their way to me! and I have decided on some icord rather then ribbon that gathered the original…..

I have got another bag on the go ( I decided that I need to practice bag making before starting on my own designs ) I will share it with you soon but next weeks post will be all about my trip to the valley of the nerds-i’m off to Comic Con!

My Sunday was all planned out….we were going to go to Brighton, shop the vintage clothes stores for a prom bag for my daughter and then to the large indoor market hoping to score some fab champagne glasses for the wedding of my mate Nikki, all the while taking photos for the blog.

We started at The Farm cafe in North Road, fabulous local food, not an additive or pesticide in sight, so far so delicious, here’s the remains of my eggs Benedict….

Then it all went to pieces, my darling daughter who has been working like a thing possessed on her GCSEs started to look decidedly green! we made it to Be Worn Again, snapped up a plain bag and then had to take her home. I might have felt a bit peeved but this kid is a diamond, focused, driven and with her eyes fixed on the prize of a career in medicine, So it was home we went……but now what to blog?

So, let’s have a State of the Union post, a how we doing and whats cooking post. First up, how is the pet portrait painting going?

I have just recently completed this picture for a gentleman who won it as a raffle prize…..

I have two more pictures to complete this month, so these will be taking up most of my time.

Next, its bears, I have been working with a company called Maximus who support disabled people back into work, my advisor is called Julia and she is brilliant, she is supportive and a great shoulder to cry on when the medical issues get a bit much. I made this bear a while ago and we named it Maxine in honour of Maximus…

Just recently, Julia asked me to write a piece for Maximus’ in house magazine, this has now led to me being featured at their conference so I feel that Julia also needs to be honoured in bear form and as she is so glam I have settled on this gorgeous fur…

I will also be looking to get a stall at our local craft market, to sell some of the bits and pieces I have been making, I am going to try to book for August so that afore-mentioned super daughter can help me……

What does that leave for me to do in my spare time? for the last few weeks I have been working on this shawl from Mollie Makes……

I am in the home stretch now and just have some leaves to complete, oh and all the sewing up to do!

Finally, I bought this fabric from the Vintage Cottage……

it is destined to be a backpack, I am trying to hone my skills with a view to designing some bags, I have a colossal bag collection but the arthritis in my arms is rendering them a little useless, so I would like to make some fabric bags that look as desirable as some of my proper bags.